


Steve's Supplies

by Mitchellsfingerlessgloves



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe- Art Shop, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitchellsfingerlessgloves/pseuds/Mitchellsfingerlessgloves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy works in Steve's art shop over the Christmas holidays. He's bored, until a customer comes in and, suddenly, he's feeling quite the opposite.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steve's Supplies

Snow fell gracefully from the grey clouds in the sky, landing on the already carpeted ground to form an even thicker layer.

Billy Kaplan adored snow, the cold, and Christmas (which was merely a week away) was his favourite time of year. However, instead of being outside, Billy was holed up in a small art shop, owned by a family friend, and bored out of his mind.

His mother had convinced him as soon as he'd arrived home from college for the holidays that helping out at Steve Rogers' shop would be 'something to do' and it was 'better than sitting holed up in that bedroom for a month'.

Reluctant but somewhat persuaded by the fact that his brother would be forced to do the same, Billy agreed. Yet, after only three days, he was regretting it tremendously.

"Anyone yet?" Tommy poked his head up from behind the stack of canvases he was setting down onto shelves, dark eyebrows furrowed behind the white fringe.

Billy shook his head, gripping tightly onto the ball of rubber bands he had managed to build thus far. It was the size of his palm.

"No one," Billy sighed. He could hear Steve bustling around in the storeroom and lowered his voice. "I'm bored."

"You're not alone," Tommy responded, picking up a small, square canvas and twirling it in his hands. "You wanna go out for a bit? You can get lunch," Tommy suggested.

Billy raised an eyebrow at his twin, who imitated the expression, but with the other eyebrow, before laughing shortly and asking, "What?"

"What do you want?" Billy asked suspiciously, and Tommy smirked slightly.

"A burger, preferably," Tommy said simply.

Billy shook his head and began pulling on his coat, patting his pocket to ensure he had his wallet.

The door was pushed open, and he froze. Before him stood a tall, broad boy with blond hair, mussed atop possibly the most handsome face Billy had ever seen. 

He was around his age, with bright green eyes, a cute nose and plump pink lips- which he was biting down on as he closed the door behind him.

“You go,” Billy muttered to his brother, not taking his eyes off the newcomer, who began looking through the paints, humming gently under his breath.

“What?” Tommy said, leaning over the counter. “Why?”

“I’ll serve this guy- you have no social skills,” Billy snapped, shrugging his coat off again and shoving it into the white-haired boy’s hands.

“I don’t get- oh,” Billy could practically hear the smirk on his brother’s face as he caught sight of the customer that had entered the shop, chuckling under his breath as he stood up. “Fine. What do you want?”

Billy shrugged and waved off his brother, finally tearing his eyes off the boy who was still frowning at the paints and making his way around the counter. “Get me whatever- oh, but make sure there aren’t any gherkins.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tommy said, pulling on Billy’s coat and walking down the aisle the blond boy was standing in. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

As soon as Tommy left, the small shop fell into silence. Billy watched as the boy made his way along the aisle, eyeing various collections of acrylics, and then making his way onto the pencils with a huff. 

He really was cute, Billy mused, bouncing his rubber band ball on the counter, his other hand cradling his chin as he rested his elbow on the table. His cheeks were flushed red from the cold, and he was swamped in the large coat he wore, although it did nothing to hide the toned physique beneath it.

The door to the storeroom was pushed open and Steve peered out, holding a stack of three large boxes and looking completely at ease. 

The older man caught sight of the customer and tilted his head at him, eyes locked on Billy. “Go help him.”

Billy blanched. “But- but I don’t know anything about art,” he hissed.

“He’s cute,” Steve said simply, though he had a sly grin on his face as Billy rolled his own eyes and groaned. “Remember I’m your boss,” he added pointedly, and Billy gave in and nodded, setting his rubber band ball on the counter as Steve disappeared into the storeroom again. 

The dark-haired boy breathed out through his mouth and rose from his seat, walking around the counter and making his way to where the blond was standing. He hovered behind the customer for a few moments, hopping from foot to foot awkwardly before clearing his throat and asking, “Um, do you want any help with anything?”

The boy seemed to sigh in relief as he turned to look at Billy, tilting his head downwards slightly so as to make eye contact with the shorter boy. “Yeah, that’d be great actually.”

Billy nodded and took a tentative step forward, looking over the various drawing pencils on display before them. “Well, er, are you getting something for yourself? Or like, is it for a friend or something?”

“No, it’s for a friend,” the boy said. He smiled at the thought of this friend and continued, “Kate’s really into art, so I wanted to get her some nice… Stuff,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and offering a bashful shrug. Billy’s heart hammered violently in his chest. “I don’t really know a lot about art stuff though, so…”

“Nor do I, really,” Billy admitted. The boy smiled and shook his head.

“I just want a suggestion, really. She’ll probably pretend to like anything I get her.”

“Close, huh?” Billy asked, and when Teddy nodded quickly with the same smile on his face, Billy’s stomach clenched. “What kind of art does she do, then?”

“She majorly does painting, really. She did a portrait of all of us, actually,” he chuckled when he said it, and Billy couldn’t help asking:

“All of us?”

“Yeah; all our friends. We’re doing a Secret Santa thing,” the boy explained, and for some reason Billy felt himself relax. 

“So maybe the paints would be a good idea,” Billy suggested, directing the broader boy back towards the paints he had been looking at when he first entered the shop. “The question is which ones…?” 

“Ooh, she likes watercolour a lot,” the blond suddenly piped. Billy nodded and glanced over the labels, settling in front of the selection of watercolour paints. 

There were boxes full of the paints, varying in colours, quantity and container. “Apparently when you get them in a pan they’re easier to use, but they dry out quicker than tubes. And you don’t… Scrub with your brush? Whatever that means,” Billy said with a nervous laugh, scratching at the back of his neck. 

“Cool, cool,” the boy mumbled under his breath, directing his gaze to the watercolour paints available in collections of tubes, pacing the small area for a while as he looked.  
Billy watched him move, quickly averting his stare whenever the boy looked over to him, blushing profusely. 

“These,” the boy finally decided, picking up a box and displaying them with a grin. Billy returned the smile without thinking, eyeing the multiple piercings in the boy’s ears as his hair shifted around his face. He didn’t know that he liked piercings until then.

“I’ll ring you up, then,” Billy said, gesturing for the boy to follow him back to the counter. 

Steve had shown him how to work the cash register but it took him a few tries before he managed to input the charge of the paints, then typing in the code to unlock the machine. 

“These are pretty expensive,” Billy muttered under his breath as he accepted thirty five dollars from the boy for a package of fourteen tubes.

“Kate’s rich,” the boy said, and Billy startled at the sound of his voice. “She’ll buy us all expensive presents- even though we all agreed to this so we _didn’t_ have to buy expensive presents for everyone,” he added darkly, although he wore a smile on his face. 

“Ah,” Billy said lamely, accepting the two twenty dollar notes being handed to him and instantly offering the boy a five in return.

“Thanks for this,” the boy said as he accepted the change and bag containing his gift from Billy. 

The dark-haired boy’s face fell as he realised that their encounter had drawn to an end, and he nodded desolately, attempting to plaster a friendly smile on his face as he nodded. “Yeah. Glad to help.” He swallowed as the blond boy fixed him with a look, blue eyes piercing. 

“Hey, could I maybe get your number? I’ll, um, let you know how she liked the present,” the blond blurted, sounding unsure. 

“Yeah!” Billy said, fake smile instantly being replaced with a cheerful grin. The blond smiled too, cheeks steadily becoming pink as he drew his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and offering it to the smaller boy. 

Billy instantly typed his number into the other’s phone, grinning giddily to himself as he did so. When he returned the device, the blond’s smile was dazzling, and Billy’s heart melted.

“Thanks, Billy,” he said softly.

“Thanks for asking,” Billy said in response. Just as Teddy opened his mouth to speak again, the door was pushed open again and a gust of cold air flooded into the small shop. 

“Hey, bro, I’m back!” Tommy called, unnecessarily loudly. 

The blond grinned and took a step away from the counter, shifting so Tommy could walk past him and behind the counter. 

“Bye,” he said softly, turning and making his way to the door. He raised his hand in a final farewell as he stepped out into the cold.

Billy sighed with a small smile on his face as his brother bustled around him, grumbling about the snow. 

“What’s up with you?” Tommy asked as he slipped into his seat, shoving a burger towards Billy.

“Nothing,” he sniped back at Tommy, elbowing him playfully as he unwrapped his food and took a large bite.

It was only in the evening, once Billy had arrived home and was curled on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and his tattered copy of _Watchmen_ that he saw a notification on his phone, alerting him to a text message.

From unknown: _Hi, it’s Teddy :)_

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't think of a name; forgive me.  
> I just had an idea and I decided to run with it, because Billy and Teddy are cute af and they deserve the best.


End file.
